02 - Iron Kingdoms W.. - Captain Spud Is Amazing

108.1.141.197
Wheelwright
Wigmaker
* Including but not restricted to: bricklayer, builder, chimneysweep,
dockworker, factory worker, farrier, longshoreman, miller, miner,
paver, quarrier, railway laborer, road laborer, sawyer, smelter, stoker,
street cleaner, warehouse man, or woodcutter
Roads & Rails
Trade Roads Across Immoren
Today’s roads and byways are frequented now
more than ever as a result of the past few centuries of
heavy industrial growth and radical change. Indeed,
the recent invasion of Llael by the Khadorans has
instigated a surge of refugees down—and companies
of soldiers up—the much-frequented King’s Highway
in Cygnar.
The first roads of western Immoren existed as little
more than paths across the plains created by drovers
and the like. Then came the first great road planners,
the Orgoth. Their dominion was partially dedicated
to expanding a network of roads, aqueducts, and
buildings to take their armies ever further on their
land conquests. These consisted mostly of rutted
paths across the landscape with the occasional stonepaved
road but still served as guides for connecting
communities, towns, and cities across the continent.
Many of the same cobbles laid by slaves under the
duress of an Orgoth lash support the boots and wheels
of the modern traveler.
Yet in small and mid-sized communities, most
roads are still little more than paths from mill to mill
with trees, stumps, or creeks serving as way markers
or end points. The major changes in most parts of
Immoren are a recent event. Most of the old roads of
the kingdoms are little more than rutted tracks just
wide enough for two wagons to pass by one another
unhindered, but the major highways have become
significantly wider in recent decades. Roads closer to
one of the many industrialized cities are comprised of
cobblestones for miles around, and the extension of
these paved roads is ever expanding. Travelers know
when they are closing in on a city, as the sunken bricks
or cobbles are often observed long before they see the
city itself.
Tolls and Toll Communities
Road conditions vary depending on their
perceived importance and in which kingdom they
are located. Every kingdom has its own methods
for maintaining its roads and the frequency with
which they are repaired. If a steamjack tears up
the cobbles on a much-frequented road, especially
within city boundaries, a team of engineers is usually
dispatched to repair it post-haste, but if a marauding
band of farrow ripped up the earth and blocked the
Gnarlwood Trail with fallen timber deep within the
Gnarls of northwestern Cygnar, it could be months
before a civilized hand is able to affect change in such
a place.
The cost of maintaining and expanding the paved
roads is in part levied through taxation, but largely it is
the ancient practice of tolling that sustains the roads.
Tolls vary across the kingdoms and range from a few
farthings illegally levied by the local lord to several
crowns for repairs to the Iron Highway. Some tolls
levied by backwater barons are often illicit—the royal
court has not sanctioned them—but travelers tend
to be ignorant of the fact and dole out a few coins
just to be able to pass in peace. Minor lordlings feel
comfortable imposing these unsanctioned tolls in the
outlands. After all, even the tolls at the heart of the
nation are ever changing based on necessity, so it is
nearly impossible to know which are legitimate and
which are not. If a ruler says that a toll must be levied
at a certain point on a road to pay for repairs, it will
be put into action that day with no warning. Travelers
simply have to accept the collector’s word that he is
gathering the proper toll by order of their monarch or
else suffer the consequences.
Exactly where tolls are collected depends on
what expanse of road is being tolled. Tolls may be
collected at crossroads, border guardhouses, or
seemingly in the middle of nowhere at one of the
many roadhouses. Tollgates are often found on
bridges where there is no other means of passage for
leagues in every direction.
In fact, toll collecting has become quite a
lucrative trade in Ord and Cygnar, and toll road
companies began to spring up roughly a century ago
offering their collecting services to the royal courts
for a modest fee. Though the Cygnaran roads are
still primarily under the jurisdiction of the Crown,
World Guide 91